Typically the Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District’s annual seedling sale has a few trees and shrubs leftover. In order to preserve these specimens the District had started a small arboretum and garden on the grounds to grow the specimens for use on one of the many erosion control projects we work on each year or they are donated for community plantings.

In 2018, after staff hand tilled a 400 sq. ft. field plot and planted these homeless bare root specimens, employees came into work on the following Monday with the intent of watering the plants. Instead they found nearly fifteen one-foot-diameter soil craters with broken and torn sapling roots, revealing they had been stripped from the ground.

In light of last year’s bare root “tree heist” which made national attention, the District has decided to view this as an unmet need of the community.

The District will be providing five barefoot elderberry or ninebark seedlings to the first 50 people who come to the Soil & Water Conservation District office in Warrensburg on Friday, April 26th for our Annual Tree & Shrub sale order pickup day.

You do not have to have an order placed to receive the five free seedlings, but there will be extra seedlings for sale if you forgot to place an order by the deadline of March 15th .

Additionally, the 2019 Tree & Shrub Sale has a few changes including:

• Eastern Hemlock, Black Tupelo and American Cranberry are added species.
• The apple varieties this year are Northern Spy & Jonamac.
• The pear varieties this year are Bartlett and Anjou.

To place a Tree & Shrub seedling order click here, or for more information and questions call (518) 623-3119 or email Dean Moore at dmoore123@nycap.rr.com.

Photo of SWCD District Manager is interviewed by News Channel 13.